We are thrilled to share that Julio Patricio Gomez was released from ICE detention and is home on Staten Island with his six year-old daughter Aliya!
Watch the emotional moment here!
Thank you for signing and sharing the petition that we shared for his release. Our joint efforts, and the hard work of our legal team, have ensured Patricio’s release from this unjust ICE detention.
Early on October 14, ICE came to Patricio’s home and detained him. Officers told him they got his address because he recently applied for a New York driver’s license, despite the New York Green Light law’s protections against disclosure. Aliya lost her dad and her home through the ICE raid and for months cried every day wondering when her dad would return to her.
When Patricio stepped out of the jail in which ICE had detained him for nearly three months, Aliya was there waiting with balloons and tears to hug him and welcome him home.
Julio Patricio Gomez said, “I am overjoyed to finally be free and reunited with my daughter. I’m so thankful for the incredible support I received and for everyone that signed the petition so I could be released. I know my daughter suffered a lot while I was detained–now that I am home with her, it feels like a dream. I cannot stop hugging her. I was finally able to unwrap the Christmas presents she saved for me. I’m happy to be back home, where I belong.”
Aliya Gomez, Patricio’s six year-old daughter, said, “I am so happy to see my dad again. When he was gone I was so sad, because I wanted him to be with me. Now he is free, and I can finally hug him again.”
We are overcome with joy to have Patricio released and back home in Staten Island with his family. Our legal team will continue to work with him to reopen his case and secure immigration relief so that he can stay with his daughter where he belongs and his family never has to face this sort of trauma again.